


The Other Side of the Screen

by PotatoParty



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M, How Do I Tag, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:16:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29491185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoParty/pseuds/PotatoParty
Summary: It's finally the gangs last year at Francois Dupont and they're all determined to make the most of their summer before they head off to uni. But it might be a little difficult to hang out together with all of them doing internships and their individual 'extracurriculars'.Basically, Marinette and Adrien have secret YouTube channels and both have summer internships at Agreste.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Master Fu, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first fanfiction and I'd love feedback, don't know if I'd actually take it but I'd read it. I haven't really written like this since I was in school and I wasn't great at it then, but I had this idea and I wanted to write it and for some inexplicable reason share it. But yeah tell me what you think.

# CHAPTER I 

Marinette sighed, dragging her feet out of the exam hall.

“Marinette!” she looked up to see Alya next to Nino, waving enthusiastically at her. “How’d you find it?”

“How? How did I find it? It was maths! Was I supposed to find it easy? With all that trigonometry! And calculus, there was so much calculus. You’ll have to mention that when you speak at my funeral, because I failed and no one is gonna hire a failure and my parents will kick me out, and I’ll have to live on the streets and eat rats and-”

“Wow. that would be a sad tombstone. Here lies Marinette, who died from eating rats,” Alya laughed.

“What?” Marinette questioned, clearly confused. “No, of course not. I died from the hypothermia, obviously. Do you really think so little of me?”

“Well, I'm sure you did great.” 

“Ahh! Adrien!” Marinette shrieked, hand to her heart. “Don't scare me like that, I swear I flew for a second.”

Adrien chuckled, hand behind his neck. “Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you.”

“Oh, it's alright. Just... be louder next time?” she sighed.

“Anyway, I don’t think the exam was that bad. Even if it was, you could come stay with me. No rats and no hypothermia, problem solved. But your parents would never kick you out - they’re way too awesome for that.”

Marinette looked down at her feet as her face started to heat up.

“I don’t know, dude. I think I’m with Mari on this one,” Nino muttered, kicking up dirt. “Hey, is that offer open to me too? Might need a place to hide once my folks see my grades.” 

“Ok, ok, kids. Enough with the pity party.” interrupted Alya. “Let’s go get ice cream, I have Andre’s current coordinates, so let’s get going before they change!”

Nino and Marinette exchanged questionable looks before nodding purposefully and sprinting down the road. 

“umm...where are they going?” Adrien asked, eyebrows quirked.

“I really don't know, I’ve got the location,” she said incredulously, holding up her phone.

“Erm? Alya, I don’t really know how to tell you this, but...” Adrien glanced between her hand and her face.

“What is it?” Alya said curiously, following Adrien’s eyes to her empty hand.

“What!” Alya screeched. “How? Those little bastards! I trust them enough to give them a fingerprint and they do this to me?” Alya set off down the street, yelling after Marinette and Nino with some very colourful threats.

Adrien laughed to himself before rushing to join them. By the time he caught up to them, Alya already had her phone back in hand and was seemingly in the middle of lecturing both Marinette and Nino, with the latter looking scared for his life. 

“Hey, look!” Adrien interrupted, earning a look of frustration from Alya. “There’s Andre.”

Alya looked back toward the two offenders. “We are not done with this,” she whispered, pointing between the two before walking toward the ice cream cart. Adrien laughed lightly, shaking his head as his two other friends mouthed silent thanks to him.

After paying for her ice cream Marinette joined her friends at a nearby bench and plopped herself down with her legs crossed on the seat, facing Alya. 

“I’m so happy it's finally summer,” Alya squealed. “Two whole months off of school, and we can hang out whenever we want, and no more early mornings.”

“Ugh. I wish,” groaned Marinette. “I’ve got that internship, so I won’t even get to lie in. Wait, don’t you also have an internship this summer?”

“Ah, yeah, I do. But some of my hours are later in the day, so whilst you might not get to lie in, I do,” Alya grinned.

“Oh? You guys are gonna be busy this summer too?” questioned Adrien.

“Yup. Nino’s got that music production internship with Jagged Stone’s mixer, I managed to score a journalism internship at Le Parisien and Marinette, our seamstress overlord-”

“Hey!”

“Has an internship with Agreste!"

“ You’re gonna be at Agreste this summer?” Adrien asked, eyes hopeful.

“Umm, yeah. It’s a bit weird with it being your father’s company and all,'' Marinette laughed nervously.

“No, no! It’ll be great! My father’s having me intern there too - for experience. It’s usually so boring there, but it’ll be so much more having a friend there.” Adrien's smile radiated joy.

“Oh,” said Marinette, wincing slightly at the word ‘friend’. “That would be fun. I’m just interning though, so we might not cross paths too much.”

“Oh.” Adrien's smile fell. “Well, at least we can get lunch together, or something,” he suggested, looking up at Marinette’s face. “Or not! If you don’t want to.”

Alya and Nino exchanged tired, knowing looks.

“N-no, I’d like that Adrien.” As the model’s face lit up Marinette could not help but return the smile. 

#  ~~~~~~~~~

Back in her room, Marinette sat dejectedly at her desk, pulling out her planner. This summer she would have to plan out her time, perfectly. Between her internship, helping her parents out in the bakery, and her thriving baking channel, she would be hard-pressed in finding time for her friends. She thought back to Adrien’s excitement at the prospect, the idea of disappointing him stung, but she wondered how much time his dad would really leave for him to just be a teenager.

Marinette frowned in thought. She hadn’t liked the idea of taking the internship at Agreste, not knowing of the man himself. But her parents had been so excited for her and she didn’t have the money to leave Paris to chase the internships she really wanted. She didn’t particularly want to either. 

Marinette’s phone chimed and she glanced at the screen before opening it up.

##### CHATTERFOX

> have you seen Chat Noir’s new vid???  
>  r u gonna sign up  
>  cos grl ive seen u play an u could defo give him a run forhis money  
> 

##### ME

> what?  
>  are you?  
>  talking bout??  
>  wait theres a new video up??  
>  why didnt u just start with that??

##### CHATTERFOX

> uhhh  
>  i did  
>  ???

##### ME

> no you most definitely did not  
>  but it is okay i accept you

##### CHATTERFOX

> ???

##### ME

> i still love u and iforgive you  
>  ill even go watch that video rn

##### CHATTERFOX

> ??  
>  wtf  
>  ur literally so weird

##### ME

> tank u  
>  :)

##### CHATTERFOX

> but yeah go watch it  
>  put it on 2x speed or smth  
>  go!!  
>  i can still see u here grl

##### ME

> :/  
>  ok

Marinette laughed quietly as she woke up her computer. Much to no ones surprise there was, in fact, a new Chat Noir video uploaded to the channel barely even a half-hour ago. She pressed play as she finally opened up her planner, grabbing a pen. 

With Chat Noir’s video in the background, she started to fill in her assigned hours at Agreste. She glanced up at the screen, rolling her eyes as Chat Noir made another of his seemingly infinite cat jokes. 

Marinette chuckled to herself, “I know his persona is a cat, but he’s really leaning into it.” Giving the video her full attention for a minute, she noted his high position on the leaderboard, watching Chat Noir make a quick kill with a heavily practised combo. She scoffed at the simplicity of the move and turned her mind to filling out the deadlines for her own YouTube channel into her planner.

“Next Saturday. 12:30 pm. At Arènes de Lutèce. The battle of the century! You verse me! TO THE DEATH!!”

Marinette quirked her eyebrows.

“Okay, so not to the death. At least not our deaths. But feel free to come along to my Ultimate Mecha Stike IV meet-and-greet. I’ll be doing signings and taking pics. And if you challenge me we can play together.”

Oh, so that was what Alya had been talking about. Marinette felt pride swell in her chest at her best friend’s belief in her.

“And, if you win, you get to take home an early edition of the new UMS V!!”

“What?” Marinette squeaked. The new edition of UMS had been the hot topic for the past few months, it would take her forever to get a hold of it herself. Marinette wasn’t sure if she really had time for the competition but she wanted that game so badly.

She unlocked her phone.

##### ME

> alya  
>  im not sure I have time for this  
>  dgmw I really want that game  
>  If papa found out I think hed force me lol

##### CHATTERFOX

> aww really?  
>  but its a saturdaaaaay  
>  me nino and adrien are gonna try  
>  but i really dont think we coud win  
>  not against THE Chat Noir hehe

##### ME

> well ur definitely right there  
>  :)  
>  ill make time  
>  that way we can all hang out together as  
>  well

##### CHATTERFOX

> YES  
>  we are counting on you - no pressure  
>  *pew pew*  
>  those were finger guns in case u couldnt tell  
>  ;)

##### ME

> hehe -_-  
>  rigth no pressure  
>  guess i better get to practicing

##### CHATTERFOX

> :)  
>  <3

Marinette sighed opening up her planner again. “I suppose I’ve got a little bit more to fit in then.”


	2. Chapter II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments -or any ideas to be honest.

Adrien sat in bed scrolling through the comments on his latest YouTube video. There seemed to be an overall positive reaction to his video, but it was still early. He smiled to himself, putting down his phone before making his way to his games console.

Although Adrien would love to give some people the new Ultimate Mecha Strike, he did not have infinite copies. He couldn’t give them away to just anyone, so he would have practice. A lot. 

Adrien picked up his phone again as he waited for the game to load up.

##### ME

> Hey, I’m about to play a few rounds.  
>  Are you online right now?

##### MICHEAL ANGELO

> nope  
>  but im free rn  
>  so ill b there in a min dude  
>  ...  
>  okay  
>  im online now bro

Adrien cracked his knuckles before picking up the controller and accepting Nino’s challenge.  
He would need to hold back a tad so that Nino wouldn’t catch on to him if he were to play against Chat Noir.

“So, have you asked your pops about next Saturday yet? The meet-and-greet?” came Nino’s voice through his headphones.

“Ah. No, not yet. I’m not sure he’s gonna say yes though. Not really the kind of thing he approves of.” Adrien murmured.

“Aww. Come on bro. You could totally win that new edition. Oh! Tell him about that bit.”

“I’m not sure that would do it. He could probably just buy I for me if I asked.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, but that’s not nearly as fun as winning it.” Adrien laughed, bitterly.

“Haha, you’re right there, dude. It’s a shame though. I don’t think I could win it, and - don’t tell Alya - but I don’t think she could either.” Nino said, lowering his voice to a stage whisper.

“What about Marinette? From what I remember she’s pretty good at video games.” 

“Oh yeah, I’d definitely put money on Marinette snagging a copy. But she’s pretty busy, I don’t know if she’s gonna be able to make it.”

“Well, if anyone can bet the legendary Chat Noir, it is one hundred per cent gonna be Mari,” Adrien said as he finished off Nino’s bot.

“Wow. That was ruthless, I’m gonna have to remember that move for next Saturday. But, dude! When did you get so good?”

Adrien panicked. “Well, all that time locked up by myself, might have something to do with it.”

“Oh, sorry dude. I’ve got a bit of time before I gotta head down for dinner. Wanna play a few more rounds?”

“Definitely.”

By the time Nino was called away to set the table, Adrien had won twelve rounds out of fourteen. One Adrien had let him with and the second Adrien was sure was due to cheating, not that Nino would admit it. They logged off with Adrien promising to try and convince his father to let him go to the meet-and-greet.

Adrien shut down his games console, sighing. He hated lying to his friends, but he couldn’t tell them the real reason he couldn’t go with them.

“Hey, Nino. Guess what, I’m actually Chat Noir, yes the YouTuber. Oh, you don’t believe me? Haha, yeah I wouldn’t either, not with my father.” 

He couldn’t hang out with his friends that weekend, but at least he’d get to see them as Chat Noir. Maybe they would even get an early copy of the new Mecha Stike. Sure, he wouldn’t make it easy, but they had just as much a chance as anyone else.

Adrien thought back to his conversation with Nino. It really could be a shame if Marinette couldn’t make it, he knew she was quite a fan of the game. Nino had definitely been right about her; if anyone was in with a chance of winning a copy of the new game it was Marinette. If she was to challenge him he was almost certain she would win. Although she was often scatterbrained and clumsy, she had excellent coordination when it came to video games. Her competitive nature often showed itself to be rather frighting when she had a controller in hand.

Laughing quietly to himself and the thought of his good friend, he took out his phone, returning to the comments under his latest video.

_[Guess i better get to practicing lol]_

_[Ahhh no do i have to buy a ticket to france?? Ive never in my life wanted anything as badly as i want to be french rn :’(]_

_[#ladynoir FORWVER!!]_

_[You probably wont read this but i gonna say this anyway. I found you in a pretty dark time in my life and you always made me feel better. I watched you the entire duration of the time i was getting out of the situation and it feels like i grew up with you. You always make my day and i just wanted to thank you for that.]_

Wow. Adrien didn’t really know how to respond to that one, but he was very touched. At the least, he could like the comment and wish them the best.

_[Hehe no way is anyone is beating chat]_

Adrien laughed as he typed out his response. [Well, it might be a little tricky, but it’s definitely not im-paw-sible. haha]

_[Omg chat ily sm]_

_[Wow. isnt this guy a bit arrogant thinking hes that good? Hes definitely not good enough to be giving up free copies of an early release lol]_

Adrien decided to ignore that one.

_[I hope whovers reading this has a good day :)]_

_[Noone:  
Noone at all:_

__

__

_Chat: TO tHe DeATh!!!]_

_[You and ladybug should colab i think it would be so cool since you both are anonymus]_

Another Ladybug comment. He was getting more and more of these by the video, but this particular one had thousands of likes and even more replies. It seemed he and Ladybug shared a lot of their audience. With his curiosity piqued, Adrien opened up the thread.

_[This is the comment i was looking for]_

_[Omg yes that is exactly what i was thinking]_

_[My otp]_

_[I never even though about that before but now i cant unsee it they’d be so cute together]_

Adrien blushed a bit at that one.

_[Lol didnt chat noir mention something about liking her once?]_

_[Thats not even it though cos i feel like they have such complementary personalities and theyd have such good on screen chemistry. Their video would be such gold dust.]_

Hmm. Maybe he should take this idea into consideration. Maybe he should contact her. They did seem to have a similar audience, but he didn’t know how he would. He considered himself a fan of hers and had watched all of her videos, even trying out a few by himself. It was because of this he knew that she never showed her face. Most videos were made of shots of her hands, never really going above her elbows. Fans had even tried to figure out her identity from reflections in kitchenware, but she took the extra effort to wear a mask - like him - for that exact reason. 

But still, the idea of a collaboration excited him. He just had to work out the logistics.

Adrien heard a single knock at his door. “Dinner is in five minutes, Adrien,” called Nathalie from the other side of the door.

“Thanks, Nathalie, I’ll be down in a minute.” Adrien paused. “Will father be joining me?”

The brief silence told him all he needed to know. “Your father is currently busy in his study and will most likely not be ready in time for dinner.” Nathalie sighed from the other side of the door. “I’m sorry, Adrien,” she said softly.

Adrien heard Nathalie move away from the door and head towards the stairs. He wasn’t even sure why he bothered asking anymore when the answer was almost always the same.

Adrien took in a breathe. No, this was good. This meant that he would have some time to think out the possibility of contacting Ladybug for a collaboration. 

Smiling to himself, Adrien headed down to dinner, thinking about video ideas and the prospect of meeting his favourite YouTuber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not sure how I feel about the comments section. I tried to make it kinda realistic but I'm not loving it particularly that really long one.

**Author's Note:**

> Omg, why is formatting on this thing so difficult? I would also like to mention that posting this was a bit of a split-second decision, so tell me if I screwed up or something.


End file.
